Ewing Dominates on…Volleyball Court?

The ball goes soaring into the air, Ewing steps up, arms out stretched, and blocks the opponents shot. Ewing lets out a victory roar as the ball falls on the…opposite side of the net for a Fordham Volleyball point?

Wait, What? I thought we were talking about basketball? Not quite. Randi Ewing, a junior on the Fordham’s Volleyball team, did not exactly follow her father’s basketball footsteps. Instead, she is making her own name on the volleyball court.

“I started playing volleyball in high school when a bunch of my friends joined the team,” stated Ewing. “My dad has always been really supportive in whatever we (Randi and her siblings) did. He didn’t care if we played basketball or not. As long as we stayed active and didn’t sit around and play video games all day then he was happy.”

While Patrick Ewing is regarded as one of basketball’s greatest players, he is like any other parent when their kid decides to try a sport that is foreign to the family.

“He knows some stuff about the game, but nothing really technical. He just knows what has to happen and says “good job good job” to pretty much anything,” she laughed.

Ewing has been putting together an impressive track record herself. After not playing in a match her freshman year, Ewing led the team her sophomore year in Blocks per Set (1.04) and Solo Blocks (20). She has continued that successful trend by leading the team with 93 blocks this season.

“It has a lot to do with preseason practices and it’s really important to move quickly,” Randi said when asked about how she was able to get at this level, “and I’m not a perfect blocker yet I have a lot more work to do.”

It has been that drive for perfection that has turned Ewing into the stat leader that she is today.

“Red shirting was a great opportunity for me because it enabled me to work on the college level and it helped work out the technical things. I really had a crash course on how to play volleyball.”

The highlight of the season for Ewing and the Rams was when they broke the 14 year old school record for blocks in a match with 21. Ewing contributed 10 blocks to that tally which tied the individual school record.

“My coach mentioned it to us and it was really exciting to be a part of school history. It’s motivating and makes us want to break more records. It truly is a humbling experience.”

Even though father and daughter chose different sports, they have one thing in common: success.